Koch Brothers’ Operation Larger than GOP’s

1,200

Number of full-time, year-round staffers in 107 offices nationwide that Charles and David Koch have quietly assembled, piece by piece, to create a privatized political and policy advocacy operation like no other in American history that today includes hundreds of donors as well. “The political machine that Charles Koch launched a dozen years ago in a Chicago hotel conference room with 16 other rich conservatives has exploded in size and influence in the past few elections and now eclipses the official GOP in key areas,” Politico reports. That’s about 3½ times as many employees as the Republican National Committee and its congressional campaign arms had on their main payrolls last month.”

Charles Koch Asserts He’s a ‘Classical Liberal’

I am not a Republican. I consider myself a classical liberal… I like a lot of the Republican rhetoric better than the Democrats’. But when they’re in office, it’s pretty much the same thing. It’s serving their supporters, it’s corporate welfare, it’s cronyism which is so destructive, particularly to the disadvantaged.

— Billionaire Charles Koch, in an interview with Washington Post.

Koch Brothers Argue They are Waging a Moral Battle

Look at the American revolution, the anti-slavery movement, the women’s suffrage movement, the civil rights movement. All of these struck a moral chord with the American people. They all sought to overcome an injustice. And we, too, are seeking to right injustices that are holding our country back.

— Billionaire industrialist Charles Koch, quoted by the Washington Post.

Koch Brothers to Spend Like a Political Party on 2016

$889 million

Amount the Koch brothers’ political operation intends to spend in the run-up to the 2016 elections, Politico reports. “The spending goal, shared with donors at a Monday morning session at the Rancho Mirage Ritz Carlton, reflects the sweeping ambition of a private conservative political network that in many ways has eclipsed the power of the official Republican Party. The $889 million spending goal dwarfs the $404 million the Republican National Committee spent during the 2012 election and the $188 million it dropped during last year’s midterm campaign.”

Who Knew David Koch Is a Social Liberal?

I’m basically a libertarian, and I’m a conservative on economic matters, and I’m a social liberal. What I want these candidates to do is to support a balanced budget. I’m very worried that if the budget is not balanced that inflation could occur and the economy of our country could suffer terribly.

— Billionaire David Koch, a powerful donor in American conservative politics, telling ABC News that he’s a “social liberal” on issues like abortion and gay marriage even though most of the candidates he supports are not.

In Which Jon Stewart Discovers That the Koch Brothers Have Taken Out Ads on His Show

screenshot-stewart-koch-industries

The billionaire Koch brothers have been running feel-good, folksy image ads about their company, Koch Industries, the nation’s second largest privately held corporation, on liberal outlets, particularly MSNBC and now on Jon Stewart’s “The Daily Show,” on Comedy Central.

Stewart fired back with a parody of the brothers’ ad on his show this week. “Clearly,” Stewart said, “the Koch brothers are trying to say to our audience of not yet dying-off voters: ‘Even though you may have heard certain things about the Koch brothers, how bad could they be? I mean, if they were evil, would a baby agree to appear in one of their advertisements?’”

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